English Premier
2009-10-24 - Birmingham City vs Sunderland
A Sports Betting Pick by Gooner
Football: England, Premier League
Saturday 24th October 2009 - Kickoff 15:00
Birmingham City (17th) Home : 1-1-2 2:3
Birmingham City battled hard at the Emirates Stadium last week, but the facts are that they were two goals down after 20 minutes, and effort and determination aside just don't seem to be offering much else at the moment.
The Brummies are always able to keep games close, but even at home they've really struggled to dominate games and the 1-2 loss to Bolton last time was a very worrying sign.
The top scorer for Birmingham City is Lee Bowyer with a grand total of two league goals. Nuff said.
Friday Night Team News :
Birmingham could welcome back defensive trio Gregory Vignal, Franck Queudrue and Stuart Parnaby.
Keith Fahey (ankle) is a major doubt and on-loan Teemu Tainio is ineligible to play against his parent club.
Sunderland (7th) Away : 1-1-2 4:6
Sunderland have really been boosted by the signing of ex-Spurs man Darren Bent up front - he's scored in each of the last five league games as Sunderland have earned some very good results.
I'm not usually a big fan of momentum picks, but there has been more about Sunderland's performance than just the goals. The "Black Cats" have competed well against both Manchester United and Liverpool - and the results were earned.
Currently Sunderland are the most "effective side" in the Premier League, scoring with 24% of their shots (compared to a league average of around 15%), and that tells me that it's a bit flukey, but with Bent and Jones upfront Sunderland do have two quality scorers.
Friday Night Team News :
Sunderland will be without Lee Cattermole, who is out for at least 12 weeks after suffering medial ligament damage against Liverpool.
Striker Kenwyne Jones was also stretchered off in that game but is expected to be available.
Head to Head
These two sides have clashed six times in the Premier League since 2000, with Brimingham City usually having the edge winning four matches and drawing another.
The Betting Verdict :
This one is a bit of a punt, but I like the way Sunderland are playing right now, and confidence will be very high amoungst the players after recent efforts.
Birmingham City can win this match of course, in fact my spreadsheet makes the Brummies favourites and a good bet due to the usual home advantage.
But, I favour the total goals scored of Sunderland (17) when compared to Birmingham (6) and so I'll go for an away win.
The Statistics :
BIRMINGHAM LAST SIX HOME FORM
DATE
RESULT
OPPOSITION
2009-09-26
L
1-2
H v Bolton
2009-09-13
L
0-1
H v Aston_Villa
2009-08-22
D
0-0
H v Stoke_City
2009-08-19
W
1-0
H v Portsmouth
2008-05-11
W
4-1
H v Blackburn
2008-04-26
D
2-2
H v Liverpool
SUNDERLAND LAST SIX AWAY FORM
DATE
RESULT
OPPOSITION
2009-10-03
D
2-2
A v Man_Utd
2009-09-19
L
3-1
A v Burnley
2009-08-29
L
1-0
A v Stoke_City
2009-08-15
W
0-1
A v Bolton
2009-05-18
L
3-1
A v Portsmouth
2009-05-09
D
0-0
A v Bolton
HEAD TO HEAD BIRMINGHAM v SUNDERLAND
DATE
HOME
SCORE
AWAY
2007-08-15
Birmingham
2-2
Sunderland
2006-02-25
Birmingham
1-0
Sunderland
2003-04-12
Birmingham
2-0
Sunderland
The Pick :
Birmingham City 0-1 Sunderland
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'm taking SUNDERLAND to win
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
